System and method for delivering web content to a mobile device

ABSTRACT

A system and method for delivery web content to a mobile device. A system includes a content delivery program associated with a webpage, where the webpage includes at least one content item. The content delivery program is configured to receive a user selection signal related to the at least one content item, receive an identifier of the mobile device, and initiate a delivery of the at least one content item to the mobile device based on the user selection signal and the identifier.

BACKGROUND

In the Internet or World Wide Web (“web”), content is stored in serversand accessed by a client application such as a browser. Advances inwireless communication technology have led to a convergence of sorts, asnow wireless subscribers can access and receive web content via a mobiledevice such as a cell phone. Wireless web access is typically done usinga specialized browser application on the mobile device. The subscribermust subscribe to web services through a wireless service carrier.

Currently, in one way to download content, especially a picture, fromthe web to a mobile device, a user must locate a website which offersmobile content, find the desired picture, call a telephone number usingtheir mobile device, and then type in a code. The picture then takes afew minutes to download to the mobile device. The subscriber gets billeddirectly on their carrier cell phone bill, in a practice known as“reverse billing.”

In another way, a user locates a website that offers mobile content anddials a phone number provided by the website. Then the user sends a textmessage to that number along with a code number which then downloads thepicture to cell phone. Reverse billing still occurs. In yet another way,a user can send text to a cell phone from a website. The user enters thecell phone number, types in a text message and clicks “send.”

In still yet another method, a website developer can use a tool tocreate an application for sending to a cell phone a mobile version ofthe website's online content. These mobile applications are then offeredto the mobile subscribers through the carrier's online portal orpre-installed in the cell phone itself. Website owners build mobileapplications hoping that a carrier will accept the application throughtheir particular network devices or online portal. However, not everywebsite owner can get their mobile application made available from thecarrier's website portal or device, and usually must build the separatemobile application for their content themselves.

Third, current solutions require a user/visitor/web surfer to locate awebsite that offers mobile content, find the media (picture, audio,vidlet, etc) then call a phone number using the cell phone that willreceive the media and type in a code or send a text message which thendownloads the media to cell phone. This solution shows up on carriermonthly bill to the cell phone user at a very high cost. The carriertakes a major portion of the proceeds and gives a small portion to thewebsite owner or content provider offering the content.

SUMMARY

This document discloses a system and method for sending web content froma website to a mobile device. The web content can include a picture, avideo clip, or other media. A system includes a content delivery programassociated with a webpage, where the webpage includes at least onecontent item. The content delivery program is configured to receive auser selection signal related to the at least one content item, receivean identifier of the mobile device, and initiate a delivery of the atleast one content item to the mobile device based on the user selectionsignal and the identifier.

Accordingly, the system allows a user to “click” on a selected contentitem in the webpage with a pointer or other mechanism, view a pop-upwinder, and enter a cell phone number or other identifier, and click“send.” The selected content item is sent automatically to the mobiledevice associated with the cell phone number. In an embodiment, thecontent delivery program is encoded in Java, and is provided to thewebpage from a server as an applet. In another embodiment, the contentdelivery program is a servlet running on a server that hosts thewebpage. The webpage is accessible by a user with the content deliveryprogram pre-installed, and selected content items can be uploaded to theserver for inclusion in the webpage.

The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and the description below. Other features, objects, andadvantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and fromthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects will now be described in detail with referenceto the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for delivering web content to amobile device.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a technique for delivering webcontent to a mobile device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for enabling delivery of web contentto a mobile device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for delivering web content to a mobiledevice.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a system for delivering content to a mobiledevice.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This document discloses a system and method to enable any website tohave a feature that allows a user to click on a picture or other contentitem and send it to any cell phone or other type of mobile device.Furthermore, the website sending the content can have its own senderidentifier (ID) which allows the content owner website to get credit forsending the content.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 for enabling delivery of webcontent 106 to a mobile device 114. In the system 100, a client computer101 includes a browser application to access website data from the web108 and display a webpage 102. The client computer 101 can be any typeof computer with access to the web 108. The webpage 102 is associatedwith a website that includes one or more “pages” of content encoded in amarkup language such as hypertext markup language (HTML) or extensiblemarkup language (XML) that can be rendered by the browser application.The website 102 data includes content 106, such as pictures, text, videoclips, graphics, promotional content, etc. The markup language defineshow the content 106 is to be rendered in the webpage 102.

The data associated with the webpage 102 includes a content deliveryprogram code 104. In an exemplary embodiment, the content deliveryprogram code 104 is a Java applet that is applied to any content forwhich mobile delivery functionality is desired. The content deliveryprogram code 104 is sent to the client computer 101 along with thewebpage 102 and associated content 106. The content delivery programcode 104 provides content delivery functionality to the content 106.

In one example, a website owner or administrator receives an applet overthe web 108 from a server connected to the web 108. The website owner oradministrator uses the applet code to enable selected content on theirwebsite to have mobile delivery functionality. In addition to receivingthe applet, the website owner or administrator receives instructions forexecuting the applet, i.e. copying a number of files to their webserver's root folder or other such steps. These files may be used toload the applet on the webpage or portions thereof.

In one implementation, the content delivery program code 104 allows auser to “click” on the rendered content 106, or otherwise provide a userselection signal, and invoke a program that is configured to package thecontent data in a transmittable format, along with other data such as asender ID identifying the website and/or website owner/contentoriginator, and deliver the data to a mobile device as will be explainedfurther below. The content delivery program code 104 receives arecipient identifier, such as a cell phone telephone number, from theuser. The content delivery program code 104 packages the recipientidentifier and content data for transmission to the recipientrepresented by the recipient identifier.

In one exemplary embodiment, a user can send promotional content such ascoupons and advertisements to one or more selected mobile devices. Thepromotional content can include a unique ID that distinguishes thepromotional content type (i.e. coupon or advertisement, etc.), and otherinformation such as an expiration date, issuer or originator of thepromotional content, and in the case of coupons, redemption information.This other information can be sent with the promotional content andrendered on the mobile device.

In another exemplary embodiment, the content 106 can be a streamingaudio or video source from a web server. When a user selects the content106, the streaming audio or video data can be repackaged for streameddelivery to a mobile device that can accept the streamed data. In oneexample, the streamed data can be a webcast of a radio show, or a videofeed of an event such as a sporting event.

The content delivery program code 104 causes the data representing thecontent 106 to be sent over the web 108 to a mobile carrier gateway 112of any of a number of wireless service carriers. The content can bedelivered to a single mobile device, or broadcast to a number of mobiledevices, either in a sequence or simultaneously. The content data canalso be sent to a database 110 for storage and/or processing. The mobilecarrier gateway 112 sends the content data in a wireless format over awireless network 113 for delivery to the mobile device 114. The mobiledevice 114 can be a cell phone, wireless personal digital assistant(PDA), or other device having a display and a local application forrendering and displaying the content data.

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of a system and process 200 fordelivering web content 204 to a mobile device 212. A website 201provides one or more webpages 202, which in turn includes one or morecontent items 204, each content item 204 representing a discreet item ofcontent data such as a picture, a graphic, a unit of text, a video clip,etc. The content item 204 can be represented in the webpage 202 as arendered picture, a hyperlink text, a box, or a graphic.

One or more of the content items 204 can be configured for delivery to amobile device using the content delivery program code described inFIG. 1. In one exemplary embodiment, a user selects a content item 204for delivery. The user can use a pointer or other graphical object totarget the selected content item 204, and “click” on it via an inputdevice such as a mouse or keyboard to invoke the content deliveryprogram embedded in the webpage code. By so selecting, a pop-up window206 is generated in a display containing the displayed webpage 202. Thepop-up window 206 can appear inside the webpage 202 on the user'sdisplay, or outside the browser application window that contains thewebpage 202.

The pop-up window 206 can include a representation of the selectedcontent 205, such as a thumbnail or other type of representation of theselected content data from the content item 204. The pop-up window 206can also include a number of input fields 208 for receiving user input,including but not limited to, a recipient identifier such as a cellphone number, the sender's name or other identifier, a message to bedelivered to the recipient or for storage in a database, or otherinformation. The user may deliver the selected content 205 to one ormore recipients, either by entering one or more recipient identifiers inthe pop-up window, or by repeatedly selecting the content item 204 to bedelivered. The pop-up window 206 also includes an action control 210such as a graphical “send” button, for activating a delivery process ofthe selected content item 204 as indicated in the selected contentrepresentation 205.

The delivery process sends the content data and other information to amobile device 212 as selected by the user. The mobile device includes adisplay 214 capable of viewing the content data 207. In someimplementation, the wireless version of the content data 207 is acompressed or smaller version of the content data that defines theobject 204 in the webpage 202, due to technical constraints orlimitations of the display 214.

A control center 220 monitors the traffic of communications of thesystem 200, including the sending of content data from one or morewebsites 201 to one or more mobile devices 212, for quality of service(QoS), billing and other controls functions. The control center 220 canbe implemented as a program running on a client computer, or as aweb-based server application. From the control center 220, the websiteowner can edit the name of the company or person from which the contentoriginated, or from which the content is provided for delivery. Forexample, there can be a default setting, such as “GTM” (i.e. forGlobalTel Media), that indicates the provider of the delivery servicefor the content. The website owner can decide to upgrade his account,and can attach their own name to deliveries. In one implementation, afee can be charged for allowing the website owner or content originatorto provide their name to delivered content.

In accordance with implementations described herein, a bill inconjunction with delivering content does not show up the carrier'sbilling statement, i.e. reverse billing is not used. Depending onwhether the website owner decides to allow free content delivery or willcharge for it depends on the specific website owner. If the websiteowner wants to charge their customers for mobile content delivery, thenthat customer can sign up for and be issued an account number. Theaccount number is associated with an account that can be a private labelaccount, or associated with the website owner or the customer/recipient.

In one embodiment, the account number is associated to an account thefirst time a customer pays for mobile content delivery. The user/visitorcan charge up their account with credits by paying for it through thecontrol center 220. There can be a rate sheet available for theuser/visitor to select how many and how much content credits topurchase. The user/visitor can then enters the account number into afield 208 of the pop-up window 206, along with the cell phone number anda text message in other fields 208. The credits are then debited fromthat account number and automatically credited to the appropriatewebsite owner. Thus the debit/credit transaction is facilitated throughidentification and association of the user/visitor sending the mobilecontent and the website owner offering the mobile content. Everythingcan be tracked in the control center 220. Alternatively, the websiteowner offers the mobile content as a complimentary service. The websiteowner may have their own account number which will get debited everytime one of their website visitors sends mobile content to a mobiledevice.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method 300 for delivering web content to amobile device. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the method300 includes providing content delivery program code to the website atstep 302. The website and its content are delivered to a client in theform of code according to a markup language, such as HTML or XML. Thecontent delivery program code can be embedded in the markup language tofurther define the content therein. At 304, user selection input isreceived, such as when a user clicks on a content item displayed in abrowser according to its markup language instructions, for example. Atstep 306, the content delivery is enabled by, for example, invoking thecontent-sending delivery code to prompt the rendering of an interactivepop-up window, as explained in further detail below.

The content delivery mechanism sends the content to one or more mobiledevices, at step 308. In one embodiment, a user enters a telephonenumber of a cell phone to deliver the content to a mobile devicesubscriber. In an another embodiment, the user can enter multipletelephone numbers for a broadcast of the selected content.

FIG. 4 shows a method 400 of delivering web content to a mobile device.The step 306 described with reference to FIG. 3 includes steps ofproviding a pop-up window at step 402 and receiving user input at step404. The pop-up window can include one or more user input fields forreceiving user input, via an input device such as a keyboard or mouse,that may include a recipient ID, a message, a sender ID, or otherinformation. These fields can be populated by a user at step 404, andthe data in the fields can be processed for delivering the content tothe appropriate mobile device. The decision whether or not to broadcasta sending of the content can be made in a user-selectable control withinthe pop-up window.

The step 308 of sending mobile content in FIG. 3 may be accomplished bythe steps of sending the web content, or variant thereof, to a mobilecarrier gateway at step 406. The web content data can also be sent to adatabase at step 408. The gateway can be a device or system forconnecting to a carrier's wireless network, to which the mobile deviceis connectible and from which a subscriber can subscribe to mobilewireless services. At step 410, the content data and related informationsuch as sender ID are transmitted from the mobile carrier gateway overthe wireless network to the mobile device.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of a system 500 illustrating analternative technique for delivering content to a mobile device. Content502 on any client computer 504 can be selectively uploaded to a controlcenter 512 over a network 508. The network 508 may be part of the web108, or may be any other type communications network suitable fortransmitting content, such as a local area network (LAN), intranet, widearea network (WAN), etc. The selected content 502 is uploaded to thecontrol center 512, which may be a server computer or other computingdevice. The control center 512 hosts a webpage template 510 thatincludes pre-installed content delivery program code 514 to providecontent delivery functionality to the selected content 502. The contentdelivery program code 514 is preferably an applet or servlet runninginside of a web server that comprises the control center 512.

Selected content 502 becomes enabled content 503 for delivery to amobile device 114 through the web 108 and mobile carrier gateway 112 asdescribed above. Accordingly, users can “publish” content, such aslogos, brand identities, pictures, videos, etc., to the hosted webpagetemplate 510. Once the content 502 is published, a uniform resourcelocator (URL) or other identifier is issued to the user. The user canlink to the URL from their browser or own webpage, and execute thecontent delivery techniques described above as if the content deliveryfunctionality were already provided to their own webpage.

Access to the webpage template 510 can be protected by any of a numberof security mechanisms, and may be granted access by a user according toa one-time payment or periodic subscription model.

Although a few embodiments have been described in detail above, othermodifications are possible. The logic flows depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4 donot require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achievedesirable results. Other embodiments may be within the scope of thefollowing claims.

1. A system for delivering web content to a mobile device, the systemcomprising: a webpage including at least one content item; a contentdelivery program associated with the website and being configured toreceive a user selection signal related to the at least one contentitem, receive an identifier of the mobile device, and initiate adelivery of the at least one content item to the mobile device based onthe user selection signal and the identifier.
 2. A system in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the delivery further comprises: sending contentdata associated with the at least one content item to a mobile carriergateway associated with the mobile device via the Internet.
 3. A systemin accordance with claim 1, wherein the content delivery program is anapplet configured for execution in the webpage.
 4. A system inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the webpage is stored on a server, andwherein the content delivery program is a servlet configured forexecution in the webpage.
 5. A system in accordance with claim 3,wherein the webpage is received from a server and displayed on a clientcomputer.
 6. A system in accordance with claim 5, wherein the applet isreceived from a server.
 7. A system for delivering web content to amobile device, the system comprising: a content delivery programprovided in a webpage code set and associated with the at least onecontent item defined in the webpage code set, the content deliveryprogram being configured to receive a user selection signal related tothe at least one content item, receive an identifier of the mobiledevice, and initiate delivery of the at least one content item to themobile device based on the user selection signal and identifier.
 8. Asystem in accordance with claim 7, wherein the content delivery programincludes a Java applet.
 9. A system in accordance with claim 7, furthercomprising a mobile device to receive and display the at least onecontent item.
 10. A system in accordance with claim 7, wherein thecontent delivery program is downloaded from a server to the webpage codeset.
 11. A system in accordance with claim 7, wherein the webpage codeset defines a webpage template, and wherein the at least one contentitem is uploaded to the webpage code set from a client computer.
 12. Amethod of delivering web content to a mobile device, the methodcomprising: providing content delivery program code to a webpage codeset, wherein the content delivery program code is configured to receivea user selection signal related to a selected content item, receive anidentifier of the mobile device, and initiate a delivery of the selectedcontent item to the mobile device based on the user selection signal andthe identifier; and receiving the user selection signal in the webpagecode set.
 13. A method in accordance with claim 12, further comprisingdelivering the selected content to the mobile device.
 14. A method inaccordance with claim 12, wherein providing the content delivery programcode to a webpage includes downloading an applet from a server to abrowser executing the webpage code set.
 15. A method in accordance withclaim 12, wherein providing the content delivery program code to awebpage includes executing a servlet in a server that hosts the webpagecode set.
 16. A method in accordance with claim 15, further comprisingreceiving the selected content item from a client computer.
 17. A methodin accordance with claim 14, further comprising: selecting the selectedcontent; and executing the applet on the selected content within thewebpage code set.
 18. A method in accordance with claim 12, furthercomprising monitoring the delivery of the selected content using acomputer.
 19. A system for delivering web content to a mobile devicecomprising: a webpage displayed in a browser on a computer connected toa network; a mobile carrier gateway connecting the mobile device to thenetwork; a content item associated with the webpage; and a contentdelivery program associated with the webpage and the content item, thecontent delivery program being configured to receive an identifier ofthe mobile device and deliver the content item over the network and themobile carrier gateway to the mobile device.
 20. A system in accordancewith claim 19, further comprising a control center connected to thenetwork and configured to receive data from the content deliveryprogram, wherein the control center is further configured to track thedelivery of the content item to the mobile device.